Former Iowa State and NFL quarterback Seneca Wallace will be the keynote speaker on Friday night at the opening ceremonies of the Iowa Games in Jack Trice Stadium.

Chuck Long is CEO of the Iowa Sports Foundation which runs the Iowa Games and says the festivities begin with an Athlete Jamboree. The opening ceremonies are free and open to the public.

It will be part of the biggest of three weekends for the summer sports festival and Long credits the many volunteers who run the events. “We’ve had volunteers since the very beginning in 1987 that come back every year, have donated their time,” Long says.

This is Long’s first year leading the Olympic style event that began in 1987. Long says participation in the games has become a generational thing, as parents bring their kids and several generations compete.

Chuck Long says he enjoys traveling the state to promote the Iowa Games. The former Hawkeye and NFL quarterback was named executive director of the Iowa Sports Foundation last November, the group that runs the Iowa Games.

“I do have a goal to get to every town in the state of Iowa eventually, I don’t have a timetable for that,” Long said.

Long starred for the Hawkeyes in the mid-80s and while his playing and coaching career took him to various stops across the country he always envisioned an eventual return. “I consider it my home state now even though I was raised in Illinois. I just love the state of Iowa and the people,” Long said.

The Summer Iowa Games will include 60 sports and Long says there is a sport for all different ages and levels. “Our mantra this year is ‘You can be an Athlete’ anybody can be an athlete, we have a game for everybody, of all abilities and all ages,” according to Long. He said people might sometimes think only elite athletes participate, but said that is not true.

The Summer games will be held over three weekends in July. The Open Ceremony is July 17th at Iowa State University.

The Iowa Games is joining with the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union to offer a basketball officials clinic in Ames.

Thom McDonald is the director of basketball for the Iowa Games and says the clinic would satisfy the attendance requirement for any first year official or a tournament eligible official wanting to satisfy the three person clinic requirement.

He says the games are college age or adult men, so the pace and competitiveness of the game is good and they officials in training have people watching them and giving them positive reinforcement.

McDonald says it is always important to develop the next generation of officials and they need experience at the lower levels. He says officials need to have a good background in officiating before they advance, otherwise it can lead to some bad experiences.

McDonald says officials will take part in a clinic and officiate some games. He says they go through the rules and learn the rules and points of emphasis and then can go onto the court and put those into play, which he says is a pretty good experience.

The clinic will be July 19th and is free of charge. For more information you can go to the Iowa Games website.

The largest sport for the Summer Iowa Games is facing a final registration deadline. Spokesman Cory Kennedy says today is the final day to register for youth soccer. Youth soccer has around 2,500 to 3,000 athletes competing on some 200 teams.

Kennedy says registration must be complete by the end of the day via online registration at IowaGames.org. Kennedy says registration need now includes the minimum roster size and player information, information on the coaches and payment. He says other information will be needed later.

The 28th version of the Summer Iowa Games will be held over three weekends in July and for the first time the event will feature more than 60 sports according to spokesman Cory Kennedy. They are adding Dekhockey, Kub, roller derby and black powder shooting.

Dekhockey is played on an artificial playing surface in tennis shoes and Kubb is a lawn game that has been described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Kennedy says they research local ands national trends before making the decision to add a sport.

Kennedy says there is an application process for a sport to be added and the process can take up to two years to complete. He says growth potential is another factor in the decision. He says if they feel there will be enough participants and the potential to grow, they will consider adding them. It can take a year of two before they can add a sport.

The main weekend for the summer games, which includes the opening ceremonies, will be July 17th through the 19th.

The Iowa Senior Olympics is joining forces with the Iowa Sports Foundation and is changing its name to the Iowa Senior Games. The event is held each June in West Des Moines and offers competition for those ages 50 and over. The Iowa Sports Foundation runs several events, including the Iowa Games.

Kevin Bourke, Chief Operating Officer for the Iowa Sports Foundation, says this is not a merger of the Iowa Games and the Senior Games.

“It’s really been a long process just making sure that the Senior Games maintains their own identity, it’s not part of the Iowa Games,” Bourke says. He says the Senior Games will remain in West Des Moines as it has for the last 28 years.

Bourke says the ISF will provide the Senior Games with a bigger staff and added marketing opportunities. He says the long-range plan is to expand the games with some regional games around the state in connection with recreation partners.

Bourke says the will add a couple of new sports and won’t be changing a lot of things until they get a good understanding of everything involved in the games.

The biggest of three weekends of the Iowa Games begins Friday in Ames. Spokesman Cory Kennedy says more than 40 sports will be contested over the next three days with the track and field, soccer events being some of the largest.

Friday’s activities will be highlighted by a new-look athlete jamboree and opening ceremony. It will be on the east side of Jack Trice Stadium with games for kids and lots of other activities. The first 2,200 people will get a free meal and be asked to donate to the Iowa Food Bank.

Kennedy says the activites will begin with the parade of athletes and there will also be some country music.

Kennedy says the athlete jamboree and opening ceremonies are open to the public. He says there is something for everyone and they want the entire family to come out.

The Iowa Games is set to begin with the first of three weekends of competition. Spokesman Cory Kennedy says seven sports will be contested this weekend, including a couple of cycling events. There’s par 3 golf, handball and the strongman competition that all get underway.

Ultimate frisbee is also this weekend and the Triathlon competition will be held on Sunday at Easter Lake in Des Moines. He says Triathlon is one of the largest for participation as he says it’s a good warmup for other events.

The biggest of the three weekends is July 12th through the 15th which will include the opening ceremonies.

Fifty of the sports offered by the Iowa Games this summer face a registration deadline today. Spokesman Cory Kennedy says it is the final registration deadline for 11 sports, including youth and adult basketball. He says many of the sports are team sports and it takes some time to get the teams together before the deadline.

Kennedy says they would like to have as many teams as possible enter but they need to set a deadline to get officials assigned and put the brackets together for the various age groups. “You might wonder why you can’t sign up closer to the tournament date, but it takes us a week or so to get the schedules done and getting the officials for several sports…and getting those schedules ready to go,” Kennedy says.

Kennedy says registering a team is different than signing up as an individual as you have the have the minimum number of roster players to sign up and then from the registration until the time of the games you have to turn in waiver forms,” Kennedy explains. The waivers require signatures of parents for athletes under 18.

Kennedy says as always it takes a lot of people to not only officiate but help run all the different events and venues and they are always looking for people to help. He says if you want to volunteer you can go to VisitAmes.com and sign up.

He says officials can give them a call and they can set you up with game times. Kennedy says with a staff of only 10 people, it takes quite a few volunteers. The Iowa Games will be held over three weekends during July with the main weekend being July 13th through the 15th.

The registration deadline for adult and youth basketball competition at next month’s Iowa Games is approaching. Iowa Games spokesmasn Cory Kennedy says the final deadline is next Monday, June 25th. The early registration deadline ends today.

Adult and youth basketball are now played on the same weekend. Kennedy says the adult basketball is one of the more competitive tournaments offered in the Iowa Games.

Kennedy says you have to register a minimum roster of 5 and you have until July 9th to make an addition to the team. Kennedy says more than 70 sports are being offered by the Iowa Games and the registration deadlines vary depending upon the sport.

He says the best way to find out the deadline is to go to their website: www.IowaGames.org and click on the “You can be an athlete” banner.

The competition for youth and adult basketball will be held the weekend of July 13th through the 15th in Ames.